We woke up to a beautiful morning… had breakfast on the patio, let the kids swim, enjoyed the breeze and the rising sun. We had big plans today; in fact, today is the only day we had a real agenda. It’s “CARNIVAL” here on St. John, and Monday is the day they are celebrating July 4th. In town (Cruz Bay), they have a big parade and lots of festivities. We decided to head over around 9am to make sure we have a spot by 11 (parade time).
The sun rises early here, so we were up by 6:45am. We ate breakfast on the patio, and then the kids swam in the pool while Jeff and I finished our coffee and soaked in the views and the sounds. Then we dressed, got ready for the day and headed to the car.
The car wouldn’t crank. We tried and tried… NOTHING. We talked to the owner, talked to Jeff’s dad, read on-line… charged the battery. NOTHING. Starter? Fuel pump? Who knows. All we know is that the trip to town is cancelled. All in all, Maddie handled the disappointment VERY well. We decided to take a walk and explore on our own, trying to find the beach that’s in walking distance. We were just guessing, but our walk landed in a dead end at a house (which made Matthew FURIOUS). We turned around and came back to the house. We let the kids swim, ate some lunch and called the owner to talk more about the car, the route the beach, etc.
With no car, we decided to take a hike to the beach. Wow, was it worth it. All in all, we probably walked a good 3 or 4 miles round trip, and we’re talking up hill, down hill, through the woods – an AMAZING, BEAUTIFUL but tiring hike. The kids did awesome! At the end, we found Salt Pond Bay, a sparsely populated, beautiful, small stretch of beach. We didn’t bring snorkeling gear since we had to walk in (we wanted to minimize our gear), but we did have goggles. We saw cuttle fish and all sorts of other fish. Maddie didn’t venture out with us, but Matthew was so eager! His swimming has come so far – he was able to glide and swim and look at all the fish, and he even swam down deeper to get a closer look at some coral. I happened to see large black sea urchins and tried to pull him back, but he swam strong enough to keep going his way. He came up for a breath and assured me he would avoid them – he wanted to touch his first coral he said. J It was really a cool experience. We can’t wait to go snorkeling for real now.
We were hot and tired after our hike back, so we immediately jumped in the pool. All except Matthew, who didn’t think it was safe because of the impending clouds. He was mad at us for getting in, and we explained that he should trust us, but nonetheless, he relaxed inside while we cooled off in the pool.
After getting cleaned up, we cooked spaghetti (had to scrounge through the cabinets to see what was available since we weren’t going to be driving anywhere tonight). Surprisingly enough, we all thoroughly enjoyed it! We capped the evening off by watching Toy Story 2 together and then turning in early. The saving grace about the early sunrise is the early SUNSET that follows. J
We found a trail leading up from the upstairs balcony that we hope to follow in the morning… until tomorrow!
